Josef Mühlbacher

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Josef Mühlbacher (born March 4, 1868 in St. Margarethen im Lungau , † December 23, 1933 in Zell bei Kufstein) was an Austrian priest, sculptor and painter .

Life

Monument to David and Goliath in Kufstein
Mohr Gruber monument in Oberndorf near Salzburg

Josef Mühlbacher, who came from a humble background, attended the Borromäum in Salzburg from 1879 to 1887 and then studied at the Catholic faculty there . In 1890 he was ordained a priest and then worked from 1891 to 1895 as a cooperator in Hofgastein and from 1895 to 1916 as a beneficiary at the Maria Loreto church in Radstadt . When Archbishop Johannes Katschthaler became aware of his artistic talent, he sent him to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna , where he studied painting and sculpture with Rudolf Jettmar , Alois Delug , Josef Müllner , Hans Bitterlich and Edmund von Hellmer from 1909 to 1914 . He also studied art history with Max Dvořák and Heinrich Swoboda at the University of Vienna . During this time he was also able to undertake study trips to Italy , Dalmatia and Greece . His sponsors included the papal nuncio Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte and the art patron Johann Nepomuk Wilczek . His further artistic training with Auguste Rodin in Paris with a grant from the Austrian government was prevented by the outbreak of the First World War . In 1916 he became pastor in Zell near Kufstein. In 1917 he became a member of the prince-archbishop's monument council and later diocesan conservator . In 1927 he suffered a stroke during the service that paralyzed his right side and severely restricted his further artistic activity. In 1932 he retired as a pastor and died the following year.

Josef Mühlbacher created statues and reliefs in stone and bronze, including several war memorials. His most important works are the larger than life expressive bronze statue of David with the head of Goliath at his feet on Franz-Josef-Platz in Kufstein and the monument to the Silent Night creators Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber in Oberndorf near Salzburg . Since around 1910 Mühlbacher has been concerned with Joseph Mohr and a memorial for Wagrain . Since there was no portrait of him, Mühlbacher had Mohr's skull exhumed by the Wagrain priest in 1912. For financial reasons, the monument in Wagrain could not be realized. In 1928 it was set up in a similar form, supplemented by Franz Xaver Gruber, in the parish church of Oberndorf .

As a painter, Mühlbacher mainly created small-format oil paintings , often on cardboard, with landscapes , buildings, interiors and flowers, still lifes that reveal Josef Stoitzner's role model .

Works

literature

Web links

Commons : Josef Mühlbacher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fingernail-Grüll, Wiesauer: War memorial. In: Tyrolean art register . Accessed January 21, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Fingernagel-Grüll, Wiesauer: Monument, David and Goliath. In: Tyrolean art register . Accessed January 21, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Fingernail-Grüll, Wiesauer: Parish Church hl. Martin. In: Tyrolean art register . Accessed January 21, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Mühlbacher, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian priest, sculptor and painter
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Margarethen in Lungau
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1933
Place of death Zell near Kufstein